


Lay The Cards Down [Gravity Falls -Teaser]

by mothmans_barmitzvah



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Amnesia, Fake Tarot, Fortune Telling, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Human Bill Cipher, I'll add more tags as the story progresses, Memory Loss, Older Dipper Pines, Older Mabel Pines, Post-Weirdmageddon, Returning to Gravity Falls, Soos as Mr Mystery, Tarot Cards, Teaser chapter, fortune teller, full story to come, tarot reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 01:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18188174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothmans_barmitzvah/pseuds/mothmans_barmitzvah
Summary: He brought his gaze back up to her smug face, careful not to show any emotion. The suspicion of her legitimacy seemed to take a backseat as he gazed into her empty eyes.She unnerved him."You're here for answers." She spoke softly, with experience behind her years."You know I've got them. But what's in it for me?" She fiddled with the flame of a nearby candle as she spoke."Let's say you make me a deal. Do me a favour, just a small one when I ask. I'm sure we can negotiate something that benefits both our needs."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Qefkdp xob klq xitxvp xp qebv pbbj.

The smoke had him choking. The drifting music filled his skull. This place terrified him. But he had already convinced himself he needed to be here. To prove her wrong.  
A candle flame flickered dangerously inside a patterned sphere of paper hanging above the two. The reflection shimmered in her white, almost pupilless eyes. The light brought out the sharpness of her old features. He could tell she was beautiful once.  
The air was thick between them but he couldn't find anything to say. His eyes scanned the round table adorned with mystic blue cloth. It was littered with the tools of her trade. The skull of a bird seemed to stare him down.

  
He brought his gaze back up to her smug face, careful not to show any emotion. The suspicion of her legitimacy seemed to take a backseat as he gazed into her empty eyes.  
She unnerved him.  
"You're here for answers." She spoke softly, with experience behind her years.  
"You know I've got them. But what's in it for me?" She fiddled with the flame of a nearby candle as she spoke.  
"Let's say you make me a deal. Do me a favour, just a small one when I ask. I'm sure we can negotiate something that benefits both our needs."  
She brought her steaming cup to her lips, kissing the rim. The heat didn't seem to affect her so he tried the same, only to pull back when the scorching liquid touched his lip.  
She chuckled before continuing.

  
"They all come to me wanting to know the shape of things to come, but you? You claim not to believe, yet here you are. Do you honestly think knowing the future would actually help?"  
He parted his frown to reply, but she leaned forward, cutting him off.  
"Look at me. It doesn't."

  
Her empty gaze bored into his soul, drowning all attempts at protest he would make. She looks away after a second, picking up a deck of cards from somewhere beneath the table. She shuffled them with an ease born of long familiarity before setting the deck face down in front of him.  
"You have no questions for me. They are all for the cards. We select three. Each one is important, but you can't see the bigger picture until you put them all together."  
He reached out for the cards, but her knarled hand cut him off so sharply he pulled it back as if he'd been burned.

  
"Do. Not. Touch. Them." He watched as the flaming anger poured from her face just as quickly as it appeared. "Never touch a deck that isn't yours. Now, let's see."  
Expertly and methodically, she slipped three random cards from the deck placing them face down on the cloth. She held the rest of the deck with both hands, watching the cards intently before reaching to turn the one on the far right.

  
Two mirror image silhouettes stared to the sky and ground respectively. Books and scrolls swirled around the lower, swords and compasses encircled the first. He couldn't help but feel recognition as he stared at lower of the identical shadows.  
"The Dark Knight. His soul is frozen in time, like an eternal moment under a cloud of freezing autumn mist. He offered up his heart, his faith, but earned only a promise in return... so now he waits, with limitless patience though he may not show until the sky comes tumbling down. He'll wait for you, draw you where you need to be. He'll shield you with his broad back and defend you with his blade. But don't betray his loyalty when the time comes for you to make a choice."  
She seemed to stare through him as she spoke, her words twisting their way through his mind. Before he could think, she reached to turn the second card.

  
"The Guard."  
He stared at the simple image of a heart, bloodied and pierced through violently with a pen, and felt a long cold shiver down his spine.  
"A powerful knight errant, loyal to his cause, who can help you find the way forward when you stray from the path - if only you turn to head him. He can seem... cruel? He is cruel, now and again, but he is the only one who seeks to uphold balance and the natural passage of time. He sees you, but you must see him or darkness will fall on his world, and eventually yours."

  
His pondering was interrupted as she swiftly turned the third, and his heart caught in his throat.  
A snake stared up at them, his emerald body entwined in a figure of eight through a pyramid of gold, floating through an endless night sky. His eyes were yellow and slit, yet seemed to smile in amusement.  
"The Devil. The symbol of negotiation and obfuscation. This 'Devil' strikes fear in every heart, and turns trust into doubt... but how can you spot him in the crowd, when he could be wearing any one of his countless masks? Don't think of meeting him head on - this would merely be a waste of time. Consider first your own reflection, and you'll claim true victory."  
His mind was reeling as he stared down at the card, his breath almost jagged.

  
Her gaze seemed to return to her, and he realized that not once during her reading had she blinked. She gathered herself, leaning back a smidge and looking at the cards.  
"So, what do my cards say? You'll be faced with a choice that's weightier than any other. Not just between persons A or B - this is between life and death, or light and darkness... how should you know which is which? You won't know that until you have to pick one.  
The cards can't help with this. You have to make the choice, as well as live with the aftermath... but you will encounter one person who'll give you a hint. Pay close attention to be sure you know exactly when that happens!"  
Her tone was light as his hands shook. She expertly gathered her cards and placed them to the side of the bird skull, before taking another long sip of her steaming tea.  
"So," She started lightheartedly. "Did you get the answers you wanted? Remember what we discussed. One good turn deserves another... and I don't forget these things, whether you do or not."

  
Her lighthearted oration made him feel nauseous. Concentrating on her words was increasingly difficult- or was it the smoke clouding his mind? He nodded.  
"I do so love striking a bargain." She gave a self-satisfied smile, placing her cup down and rising from her seat. "Until we meet again. Oh yes... remind me. What was your name?"  
Who was he exactly? Was that his voice, low and rasping? The name stuck for a moment on the tip of his tongue, before he forced it out with an effort.


	2. boop not a chapter ;D

hey! hope you're enjoying this little teaser for a bigger work to come, i'm really enjoying how it's turning out so far, but quality takes time. I'll be writing more chapters before i start posting this one regularly, just so i don't have a panic about deadlines and ruin the quality.  
hey, while you're here, comment and tell me who you think the 'he' is and who you think the cards represent - it's not the most complex mystery i've written lets just say that ;D

comments are hella rad,  
kudos are tubular  
stay safe dudes, dudettes and anything in between or not at all  
peace out ~mothman

**Author's Note:**

> tebk pbsbk pqxop xka qeobb jxhb qbk  
> xka zixpefkd plrip zljyfkb  
> qeb mxqe lc obabjmqflk pexii ybdfk  
> tefib clopxhfkd xiilqqba qfjb
> 
> lliw ot lliw dna doolb ot doolb  
> llips ot demood si elacs decnalabnu na  
> rettalc snioc tlips dna neppah taht dluohs tub  
> rettahs ot detaf era nam dna lived htob
> 
> .kcab srettel eehrt


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